Luggage handles



United States Patent Oiitice 3,115,228 Patented Dec. 24, 1963 3,115,228 LUGGAGE HANDLES Leonard Louik and George J. Frank, Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa., assignors to Bruce Molded Plastic Products, Inc., Moon Run, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Dec. 5, 1961, Ser. No. 157,135 6 Claims. (Cl. 190-57) This invention relates to luggage handles and more particularly to luggage handles formed of molded plast-ic material.

It is the object of the present invention to provide luggage handles which may be fabricated economically in mass-production procedures. The handles are applied to items of luggage in pairs and are formed of two complementary units of identical construct-ion and contour.

It is another object of the invention to provide luggage handles of molded plastic material having maximum strength in relation to the amount of material utilized, and which are shaped to afford maximum comfort in the handling of the luggage to which such handles are applied.

The luggage handles in accordance with the invention are used in pairs which are aflixed to the opposite sides of the luggage. The handle unit of each pair is designed with a longitudinal handgrip portion and integral terminal legs extending therefrom, the free ends of which are aixed to the sides of the luggage for pivotal movement, and which are arranged to nest the handgrip portions one above the other with a convexity in a downward direction to afford maximum comfort in the use of the luggage handle. The luggage handles in accordance with the invention are formed of identical parts, so that both the manufacture of the individual units and their afiixation to the items of luggage are simplified.

Other objects and purposes will appear from the detailed description of the invention following hereinafter, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein- FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a piece of luggage with the luggage handles in accordance with the invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is a right end view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view along line 3-3 of FIG. l; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the handle units.

In the drawing the handles H in accordance with the invention are shown applied to a piece of luggage which, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention is exemplified by a bowling ball and shoe carrier, formed of molded sections L and L' hinged along the bottom of the carrier at hinge 3 and which are provided with Valances 1 and 1', respectively, which are interitted and meet at 2 to provide the opening for the opposite sides of the bag. The Valances l and 1 are provided with cooperating hasp components 4 to secure the closing of the piece of luggage.

The details of the luggage item do not constitute part of the invention and the luggage may be formed of any suitable material such as metal, plastic, molded plywood, composite sheet material, and fabrics of all types. These may assume different contours and may be provided with Valances and closures of all types, including those with slide fasteners which are operable along the top of the piece of luggage and along a portion of the sides thereof, as is known in the art.

The invention is concerned with the provision of a handle which may be fabricated economically, which affords maximum strength and which provides maximum comfort to the hand when the luggage is carried, even with heavy loads.

L1 the preferred embodiment of the invention, the handle is formed of two identical units H of molded plastic and of a small thickness relative to the surface area of the handle. Thus, the handles may be shaped from sheets of plastic material, or molded initially in the form illustrated in FIG. 4, the primary feature of which is the longitudinally extending handgrip 10 which is shaped convexly in a downward direction along the transverse cross-section thereof, as clearly shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

A pair of terminal legs 11 and 12 extend downwardly from the opposite ends of the handgrip portion 10 and provision is made at the ends of these legs for the pivotal mounting of the handle to the body of the luggage. Openings 13 and 14 are formed adjacent the ends of legs 11 and 12, respectively, to form substantially cylindrical trunnions 15 and 16 at the ends of the legs. Each trunnion may be encompassed by a retaining loop Ztl of ornamental brass or steel, or any other material, the free ends of which loop are interconnected to the body of the piece of luggage L, L by means of a rivet 21, with or without the provision of a plastic patch at this point. When the luggage is formed of rigid material, the retaining loops 20 on one side of the luggage are set at a slightly higher level than the loops 20 on the other side of the luggage in order to assure that when the handles are swung into position for grasping at the top of the piece of luggage, the handgrip portion 10 on the side L of the piece of luggage will superpose the corresponding handgrip portion 1d which is pivotally mounted on the other side L of the piece of luggage. A variation of one-fourth inch in the mounting levels is adequate to produce the desired result. Resort to this mounting expedient is not necessary when the item of luggage is made of flexible or semiflexible material which yields sufficiently to permit the closely engaging and overlapping relation of the handgrip portions 1l) and 11) when the handles are swung into the nesting position shown in FIGS. l to 3 of the drawing.

The angularity of the terminal legs 11 and 12 with respect to the handgrip portion 10 may be varied in dependence upon the specic contours of the item of luggage to which they are applied. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the obtuse angle formed between the handgrip portion 10 and the depending legs 11 and 12 approximates an angle of 120. However, this obtuse angularity of the terminal legs 11 and 12 relative to the plane of the handgrip portion 10, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, may be reduced closer to 90 if the width of the top of the bag is less. As shown, the legs 11 and 12 may be slightly curved or bowed to complement the convex curvature of the handgrip portions.

The mounting of the handles as shown in the illustrated embodiment of the invention is preferred because of its simplicity since thereby the need for D-rings and reenforcing patches are eliminated, and the fastenings of the retaining loops are effected by single rivets. However, the ends of the terminal legs may be modied to adapt the handles to other mounting expedients.

While we have described our invention as embodied in a speoic form and as operating in a specic manner for purpose of illustration, it should be understood that we do not limit our invention thereto, since various modications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art Without departing from the spirit of our invention, the scope of which is set forth in the annexed claims.

We claim:

1. A luggage handle formed of a pair of separated identical sheet-like units of substantially uniform small thickness relative to their surface area adapted to be spacedly mounted on the opposite sides of a piece of luggage, each unit composed of a longitudinal handgrip portion shaped convexly in transverse cross-section in a downward direction, a pair of integral terminal legs extending downwardly at a generally obtuse angle from the opposite ends of each handgrip portion provided with means at the free ends thereof for pivotally mount-ing each unit thereat for selective positioning of the handgrip portions into closely engaging and overlapping relation thereby to form a comfortable composite handhold.

2. A luggage handle formed of a pair of separated identical units each adapted to be pivotally mounted on the opposite sides of the piece of luggage and adjacent to the top thereof, each unit composed of a longitudinal handgrip portion shaped convexly in transverse cross-section in a downward direction, and a pair of integral terminal legs extending downwardly at a generally obtuse angle from the opposite ends of said handgrip portion provided with means at the free ends thereof for pivotally mounting each unit to the respective side of the piece of luggage to enable the handgrip portions to be swung into closely engaging and overlapping relation and thereby to provide a comfortable handhold therefor.

3. A luggage handle formed of a pair of separated identical molded plastic units of sheet material of substantially uniform small thickness relative to their surface area, each unit adapted to be pivotally mounted on the opposite sides of the piece of luggage and adjacent to the top thereof and each unit composed of a longitudinal handgrip portion shaped convexly in transverse cross-section in a downward direction, and a pair of integral terminal legs extending downwardly at a generally obtuse angle relative to the plane of said handgrip portion, and each pair of said legs extending from the opposite ends of said hand- A grip portion provided with means at the free ends thereof for pivotally mounting each unit to the respective side of the piece of luggage to enable the handgrip portions to be swung into closely engaging and overlapping relation and thereby to provide a comfortable handheld therefor.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 wherein said lastrnentioned means comprises a trunnion at the end of each leg formed by an opening adjacent to the free end thereof.

5. A device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said trunnion is encompassed by a closed loop, and means for affixing said loop to the luggage material.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 wherein the level of the closed loops on each side of the piece of luggage is displaced slightly to facilitate the superposition of the handgrips at the top thereof into said engaging and overlapping relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,036,645 Schell Apr. 7, 1936 2,273,442 Hedu Feb. 17, 1942 2,324,638 OConnor July 20, 1943 2,513,040 Miller .Tune 27, 1950 2,800,940 Reisebeck July 30, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 215,864 Germany Nov. 9, 1909 735,069 France Aug. 13, 1932 

1. A LUGGAGE HANDLE FORMED OF A PAIR OF SEPARATED IDENTICAL SHEET-LIKE UNITS OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM SMALL THICKNESS RELATIVE TO THEIR SURFACE AREA ADAPTED TO BE SPACEDLY MOUNTED ON THE OPPOSITE SIDES OF A PIECE OF LUGGAGE, EACH UNIT COMPOSED OF A LONGITUDINAL HANDGRIP PORTION SHAPED CONVEXLY IN TRANSVERSE CROSS-SECTION IN A DOWNWARD DIRECTION, A PAIR OF INTEGRAL TERMINAL LEGS EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY AT A GENERALLY OBTUSE ANGLE FROM THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF EACH HANDGRIP PORTION PROVIDED WITH MEANS AT THE FREE ENDS THEREOF FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTING EACH UNIT THEREAT FOR SE- 